'I'm delighted' - Ryan

Ryan Mason spoke of his pride and delight after signing a new five-and-a-half year contract which runs until 2020.

The Enfield-born Spurs fan is living his football dream after breaking through into the first team squad and becoming a regular for the club he supports this season.

Academy graduate Ryan, who signed for our Academy in July, 2007, made a spectacular introduction with a 30-yard goal against Forest in the Capital One Cup in September and hasn’t looked back.

He made his Premier League debut in the North London derby three days later and has now featured 18 times in all competitions this season.

Indeed, after his debut at the Emirates, Ryan started 14 of our next 15 games until injury against Chelsea on New Year’s Day forced him out. He made his return in Wednesday night’s Capital One Cup semi-final, first leg against Sheffield United.

Asked what this new deal meant to him, Ryan said: “I’m buzzing about it. I’m delighted and I can’t wait to crack on now.

“I appreciate the length of the contract shows a lot of faith in me and hopefully I can keep progressing and stay at the club longer than the contract.

“I’ve worked hard, a lot of work over the years has gone into what has happened this season and this time I’ve a manager who has faith in me and stuck me in. It’s been a long road but I’m delighted to be in the side and hopefully I’ll stay in there as long as I possibly can.

“I can’t stress enough the faith the gaffer has put in me and hopefully I can carry on repaying him and continue to put in good performances for this club.”

Ryan was one of five Academy graduates to start against Chelsea and with the team still competing on all three cup fronts – Capital One Cup, FA Cup, Europe League – and sitting sixth in the Premier League, the 23-year-old can’t wait to press on in the second half of the season.

“We’re doing well and it’s exciting,” he added. “We’ve a lot of games coming up, we’re utilising the squad and hopefully we’ll get to Wembley for the fans and continue to do well in the Premier League.”